Tips on how to not stress out when your child is sick

First of all I won't pretend to know all the answers but I can give to you what worked for me. Sickness is no fun for anyone, we tend to get cranky and stress over not getting to work or getting work done if you are a stay at home mom. Sickness consumes a lot of time, so what do you do when you are not cuddling your child? Are you stressing over the fact that you both may not get sleep that night, or if you will have to take 3 to 4 days of work, or if the house work will magically do itself?


This is what I did before I found a way to actually make it more enjoyable, yeah enjoyable. First I prepared myself to accept that Michael may be sick up to a week given the situation and I accepted that it was going to be hard but we were going to be okay. ( Yeah, I talk to myself! )

As I sat and cuddled with Michael I realized that you can only cuddle and watch Toopy and Binoo so much so I decided to make a plan. I wanted to be able to accomplish one thing during the time he was sick, you can pick more than one as long as you don't stress to get it done. The whole point is to be relaxed no matter how many times you have to break away from it to cuddle so pick something that will calm you.
I choose to do a scrapbooking page for being creative is my biggest stress relief.

So ok I had only got the materials together before Michael needed me again, he happens to be only five feet from me laying on the couch but he would rather that I planted myself and tended to his every want and need.. Thats ok!! I did just that but my way , not his.

I would cuddle him for about 3 to 5 minutes then tell him that I am right here if he needs me, I told him that I am doing my work but if he needed anything let me know. If you prepare to sit down and get a lot done, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and frustration so it is important to tell yourself that you may get very little done and prepare your mind to think that you will be up and down to meet your child's needs. Trust me, it really helps to be honest with yourself instead of going against the situation.

It can be harder dealing with a child that has autism and you may have to spend more time with him due to the lack of communication and understanding. Michael wanted up a lot but when I asked him questions about his body and how he was feeling, then put him down he was much happier.

 Wanting up is a way for him to tell me something isn't right and his way of telling me that he is confused. So ask questions related to his sickness such as " Does your belly hurt", "Do you feel tired" etc..., then reassure him that if he takes his medicine and lay down he will get much stronger. Be certain not to say "Better" for autistic children are literal and see better as completely better than "getting better".

I also drew a diagram of the body and drew some funny looking germs and explained to Michael how he got sick , then how to get better, he loved it! Now he was happy and I could go and do something for me! I got creative and although I took many breaks I would have to say that although Michael had fever for 2 nights and coughed all day we got through it all smiling, today the fever broke but I am not saying it is gone for good for once again I would be setting myself up for disappointment.

I am sharing this with you because why should we be automatically stressed when our children get sick? I can understand no one likes to see their child suffer in any way but that doesn't change the fact that it is happening. I am not saying all your stress will be relieved for mine wasn't but it was certainly much better for I am not all strung out and it just so happens that I am sick too. The final outcome is going to be ok no matter what the situation if it is just a cold or flu so why not try to enjoy it, you know what I mean
This was the final result after many many many breaks.



I did this for my twin sister

 

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